UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



&J&"^r<-ru 



Contribution from the Office of Farm Management 



and Farm Economics 



H. C. TAYLOR, Chief 



Washington, C. C. 



February 23, 1922 



THE RELATION OF LAND TENURE TO THE USE OF THE 



ARID GRAZING LANDS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN STATES 



By E. 0. Wooton, Assistant Agricultural Economist. 

 (Section of Land Economics, L. C. Gray, Economist in Charge.) 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introduction 1 



The region 3 



Some factors controlling stock raising on arid 



grazing lands 9 



The natural conditions 9 



The resultant forage crop 13 



The land tenure 15 



Some consequences of the open-range method 



of stock raising 28 



Page, 

 Some benefits arising fromfencing the range 



and controlling the methods of use 36 



The necessary legislation 42 



Basic assumptions 42 



Requirements that must be met 44 



Methods proposed 45 



Conclusion 62 



Appendices 63 



Bibliography 68 



INTRODUCTION. 1 



A large part of the land of the western half of continental United 

 States, probably from one-half to two-thirds of the total area, can 

 not be used for the growing of field crops, mainly because the rainfall 

 which it receives is insufficient for the growth of any known cultivated 

 plants. The precipitation, however, is enough for the production of 

 a growth of native vegetation which furnishes excellent, though 

 sparse, forage for grazing animals. 



Practically all of this land is now in use as grazing land, and has 

 been so used for the last 25 to 50 years. Because no other profitable 

 use for the land has yet been found, the grazing industry has become 

 one of the leading, if not the leading, industry in many of the Western 

 States. It is probable that in the case of more than 95 per cent of 

 the public land yet unreserved and unappropriated the failure to 



1 This bulletin has been prepared under the imm ediate direction of Dr. L. C. Gray, Economist in Charge 

 of Land Economics, Office of Farm Management and Farm Economics. In the preparation of this bulletin 

 the writer has used freely information obtained from many sources, some of which can not be referred 

 to in the literature of the subject because it has not been published. He is very grateful for the courte- 

 sies extended, and takes this means of acknowledging his indebtedness and expressing his thanks. 

 60835°— 22— Bull. 1001 1 



